Mini Poll In this poll we are trying to get a handle on whether readers are considering breaking with old habits when it comes to desktop refresh strategy.

We've talked about the combined impact of the credit crunch and Windows Vista – causing a hiatus and giving organisations time to think about their own needs rather than rushing off and doing the same as always. This week we're interested to know if you have shared this experience. Here's the poll...

READER POLL

1. Have you been given pause for thought about your own desktop strategy for any reason, to the extent that you might now be considering alternatives to what you have in place currently?

No – we're just carrying on as always

Yes – we're taking the time to review the situation

2. If so, what's caused you to rethink?

We have a strategy to review the strategy

We're fed up with what we have in place and are looking for alternatives

We're interested to see what other options exist

It just seemed like a good idea

Other (please state)

N/A

3. What criteria do you see as most important to your organisation when it comes to evaluating alternatives?

Mandatory

Highly desirable

Desirable

Not relevant to us

Cost-effectiveness of the proposed desktop approach

Ability to meet networking and other architectural constraints

Supportability of the resulting solution, operational costs

Performance criteria and service level constraints

Want to lock down environment according to policy

Power management and savings on electricity costs

Ability to conform with specific security policies

Ability to demonstrate compliance to regulations

Other (please state)

4. What do you have in place at the moment? (Please tick all that apply)

Traditional desktop and laptop clients running Windows

Desktops/laptops running Linux

Apple Macintosh

Thin clients such as Citrix presentation server

Virtualisation-based desktop infrastructure (VDI)

Other (please state)

5. Which options are you considering – including sticking with what you have maybe? (Please tick all that apply)